I have a bike with Ultegra groupset that is about 12 months old. It has been ridden for about 1100km in that time.

Just recently I had just started on a ride when I went to change gears, and the right lever felt funny. Next thing I know I have a tiny bit of plastic in my hand. I thought I had broken it but after walking the bike home (luckily it happened 100m into the ride!) and taking a closer look, the bit was designed to clip in about halfway down the lever. Unfortunately it wasn't clipping back into place, but I was able to tape it in and go for a decent ride with tape wrapped around it and the lever.

I took the bike back to the store I bought it from - they suggested that it just needed to be superglued into place. I was a little concerned by this and mentioned that since it was under warranty it should really be repaired correctly including replacement parts if necessary. They said they would ring Shimano but that it would necessitate sending the bike to Sydney for Shimano to make the repair, which would take about four weeks. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed to hear this but encouraged them to give it a go.

Anyway I received a phone call about a week later to say they had glued the part in and it was working perfectly. I picked the bike up and went for a short ride and all seemed good. Went to go again the other day, and the brake didn't release (once on, needed to be pulled back to release the brake) and the glue had fallen off and the part was loose again. After taping it back into place the brake still is not releasing (feels a bit sticky, and doesn't have the springy feeling when you normally release it). I am thinking that something in the initial 'repair' has now damaged the brake.

A call to the shop and they said that if I drop it in again they can look at it. I stressed my concern and they will ring Shimano to see if they are able to send a replacement part.

A couple of questions:

- Could I have been doing something wrong to break it (this is my first road bike and first attempt at anything resembling serious riding0?- Is there an easy way to at least fix the brake?- Am I being screwed over by the shop? Should such a repair really require the whole bike to be sent to Sydney (I live at the Sunshine Coast QLD) for a month? This seems a little ridiculous to me but if it is normal practice... I guess that has to be ok.

Summernight wrote:And four weeks without the bike stinks. Hope they can get in the replacement part for you.

The initial response from the LBS is really pretty poor service - particularly given Shimano's recenthistory with Faulty 105 shifters.My 105 failed around Xmas holidays, and the LBS apologised that it would take 2 to 4 weeks to get Shimanoto agree to the warranty replacement and supply parts. In the end, they had if fixed in the 3rd weekof January.

I'd hope that Shimano and your LBS ought to be able to do better than 4 weeks at this time of the year.Having said that, under consumer laws, the retailer is only obliged to make good the defect in a reasonabletime - and you'd be unlikely to succeed in a claim that 4 weeks was unreasonable. Nor get a hearingin that time period.

On the bright side, the time in the LBS means you've got a great excuse to buy another bike as backupfor covering maintenance downtime.

Cheers

WombatK

Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us -Jerry Garcia

QuangVuong wrote:Cant you just take off the lever, and get that sent down?

And which part is it? Ive rebuilt my Sora and 105 shifters, and possibly could help you out on that part.

I don't know how to describe it - about halfway down the lever there is a small plastic part that clips in place. It appears to hold in the metal strip that slides up and down when braking. When it fell out the metal strip stuck out also (it has a thin square hole that slots around the metal strip). I'm guessing the only reason it needs to be taken out is to dismantle the shifter.

As for the brakes suddenly not working I have no idea what is causing that but I'm guessing it is related. The other side works perfectly.

Summernight wrote:And four weeks without the bike stinks. Hope they can get in the replacement part for you.

You're not wrong there.

A bit disappointed that I will be 3-4 weeks without the bike. I would have thought that a reasonably-sized bike store would have spare shifters handy ready to sell to someone.

wombatK wrote:On the bright side, the time in the LBS means you've got a great excuse to buy another bike as backupfor covering maintenance downtime.

Cheers

I'd love to buy another bike Wombat but unfortunately funds are not available for this at the moment (part of the reason for spending a bit more on this bike was to prevent things breaking so easily).

I have a bike with Ultegra groupset that is about 12 months old. It has been ridden for about 1100km in that time.

...They said they would ring Shimano but that it would necessitate sending the bike to Sydney for Shimano to make the repair, which would take about four weeks. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed to hear this but encouraged them to give it a go.

...

A call to the shop and they said that if I drop it in again they can look at it. I stressed my concern and they will ring Shimano to see if they are able to send a replacement part.

A couple of questions:

- Could I have been doing something wrong to break it (this is my first road bike and first attempt at anything resembling serious riding0?- Is there an easy way to at least fix the brake?- Am I being screwed over by the shop? Should such a repair really require the whole bike to be sent to Sydney (I live at the Sunshine Coast QLD) for a month? This seems a little ridiculous to me but if it is normal practice... I guess that has to be ok.

The shop is not being reasonable. It takes approximately 15 minutes to whip off a shifter, 30 seconds to take a photo and email it to shimano and about ten minutes for you to sign the warranty claim. Shimano can ship that part in 3 working days (lots of bike shops it's a next day service).

The longest your bike should be off the road is a week at no cost to you. Find another bike shop.

So we get the leaders we deserve and we elect, we get the companies and the products that we ask for, right? And we have to ask for different things. – Paul Gildingbut really, that's rubbish. We get none of it because the choices are illusory.

drubie wrote:The shop is not being reasonable. It takes approximately 15 minutes to whip off a shifter, 30 seconds to take a photo and email it to shimano and about ten minutes for you to sign the warranty claim. Shimano can ship that part in 3 working days (lots of bike shops it's a next day service).

The longest your bike should be off the road is a week at no cost to you. Find another bike shop.

Hi Drubie, thanks for the feedback. The problem is it is a warranty issue. Hence taking it to the shop it was purchased from (well, the closest one in the 'chain' to me anyway).

I will speak to them tomorrow when I take the bike in to discuss this. It's good to know what is 'normal' in these circumstances. Being new to cycling I have no idea about such things at this stage.

The shop is not being reasonable. It takes approximately 15 minutes to whip off a shifter, 30 seconds to take a photo and email it to shimano and about ten minutes for you to sign the warranty claim. Shimano can ship that part in 3 working days (lots of bike shops it's a next day service).

The longest your bike should be off the road is a week at no cost to you. Find another bike shop.

+1. Quite unreasonable. I would be worried about a LBS that isn't capable of removing a shifter Not sure why they need to send the whole bike.

They have tried fixing it once, which failed-time for them to replace the shifter under warranty (assuming the bike hasn't been in a prang etc).

coffeeandwine wrote:+1. Quite unreasonable. I would be worried about a LBS that isn't capable of removing a shifter Not sure why they need to send the whole bike.

They have tried fixing it once, which failed-time for them to replace the shifter under warranty (assuming the bike hasn't been in a prang etc).

Good luck with it

Took the bike in today. Staff member I spoke to was quite apologetic. When I asked him how long it would take, he said that since the original repair 'failed' and there was now a new issue, he would ring Shimano, get them to air express up a new shifter, and have it fitted. Reckoned it should be ready to pick up on Wednesday. Fingers crossed!

Received a call from the store today. Apparently after talking with Shimano they want to have the shifter sent down to them so they can 'inspect' it to see if it is damaged under warranty. Guy at the store had no idea why the brake wasn't working. Now they think two weeks. So within a few days I've been told two days, two weeks and four weeks.

Unless its been crashed then it should be covered. I have had no issue when my SRAM shifter failed, 6 weeks before the 2 year warranty was up, got a new one from the UK in 2 weeks (as i bought it there), and that was after they had sent to Germany for inspecting, so a local part should be a matter of days. Sounds like your getting the run around...express bag overnight should mean a return inside a week.....

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